Please note the Indians have signed Cuban free agent RHP LEANDRO LINARES to a Minor League contract.

Linares, 19, left Cuba in September of last year and has previously pitched for Villa Clara in the Cuban 18U national series and previously pitched internationally for Cuba at the World Youth Championship (2009 in Taiwan) and the 16U COPABE Pan American games (2010 in Mexico).

The 6-3, 205-pound right-hander now resides in Miami, FL and has reported to the Goodyear (AZ) Player Development Complex.

Here's Ben Badler of Baseball America from when the deal was first reported last month:

Linares, 19, has been one of the top pitching prospects on the international market who is subject to the international bonus pools. At 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, Linares pitches at 89-93 mph and tops out at 94. He has loose wrists and throws a 73-76 mph curveball that flashes as a plus pitch with good depth and helps him miss bats, although it can get loopy at times. He also mixes in a changeup that’s average at times and throws a fourth pitch that scouts have described as either a cutter or slider.

Linares left Cuba before he had a chance to make an impact in Cuba’s Serie Nacional, but he was one of the country’s top up-and-coming pitchers. When he pitched in Cuba’s 18U national league last year, Linares posted a 1.91 ERA in with 76 strikeouts in 66 innings. He wasn’t a great strike thrower, as he walked 46 batters and hit seven more. Scouts who have seen him working out in the Dominican Republic have also noticed that he needs to improve his control and repeat his release point more frequently, although he does have a sound delivery.

A God Damn dead man would understand that if a minor league bus in any city took a real sharp right turn, a Zack McCalister would likely fall out. - Lead Pipe